The Mood in DC: Unsure!

Kevin Glass | April 08, 2011 4:26 PM

The federal government seems more and more likely to be headed toward a shutdown as the hours pass by. Betting markets currently (4:15 pm) set the likelihood of a shutdown at over 60%, gradually having edged upwards throughout the day. Many people on Capitol Hill don't really have much of an idea; at this point, it looks like it's Boehner, Reid and Obama in a grudge match.

Harry Reid has chosen his talking point and he's sticking to it: it's the GOP's fault, their demands are "ridiculous," and the GOP is going to shut down the government over Planned Parenthood funding. John Boehner insists it's a little more nuanced than that; the Dems also might 'win the message war' by blaming a shutdown on the GOP, despite the fact that the GOP passed a budget yesterday.

While most of the media is focused on the aforementioned "message war," GOP politicians have been stressing the need to pass a budget to fund the troops. Time and again, of course, the GOP has passed budgets, only to see the other two thirds of the government (controlled by Democrats) refuse to budge.

Some political leaders remain optimistic, but this is a case where no one really seems to know what will happen; the government has started preparing furlough notices for employees. There's an inside-the-beltway mood that a deal will get done. We'll see.